


I'm Back Jack

by leftdragonpainter



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Everyone Is Alive, Gabriel (Supernatural) is Loki, Humor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Resurrection, Sam Winchester Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Slow Burn, Swearing, only slightly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-03-14 10:50:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13588506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leftdragonpainter/pseuds/leftdragonpainter
Summary: Gabriel has been dead for a while when dear old Dad comes to bring him back. The archangel needs to learn how things are now and how to look past his previous encounters with the Winchesters. And when a new nephew who idolizes him gets added to the mix, Gabriel has to wonder just what he has gotten himself into.*Note: Mainly Sabriel with a side of Destiel fries.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Okay few things.  
> 1) This mainly takes place in my version of season 13. So possbly be on the lookout for spoilers. Pretty much canon up to that point though.  
> 2) Charlie and Kevin and Eileen are alive because reasons. (Mainly I'm still in denial.)  
> 3) It will be a slow burn folks, so you know me and sporadic updates.
> 
> Comments, kudos and yada yada ya'll  
> Gabi  
> <3<3<3

Gabriel was so bored.

"Bored!" he shouted out over the side of the bannister. Not that he really expected that anyone would respond to the childish tantrum he was throwing. But he couldn't help it. He was just. So. BORED.

Bored of being dead.

To be fair he wasn't as bored as he could have been. Being both archangel and pagan god afforded him some luxuries. No big ol' Empty for him, no sir-ee. Nope he got to spend the afterlife with  -surprise, surprise- his family.

His dottir Hel had immediately come to collect him as soon as Lucifer had left the building. She had brought him to his own little slice of the Helheim, to his very own palace with all the fineries he could possibly want.

Except, you know...company.

And he did not count his children as company no matter what they insisted. Good, bad, or otherwise they were not. 'Otherwise' being of course Jor.

He couldn't even have a pet, unless he counted Fenrir. Which he never did. The big mutt lately liked to visit after spending time swimming out in the lake beside the palace. Ugh. Wet wolf smell. Gabriel was pretty sure that the mutt did it on purpose simply to mess with him.

And didn't that just make a father proud?

Gabriel missed his old life. He missed tricks, missed being the Trickster. He missed being the one handing out 'just desserts' to those he punished, to those who needed lessons learned. Sometimes the hard way.

And he really, really, really missed sugar.

So even in a place where time had no meaning... He was bored.

*****

Just because he was a pseudo-sentient being now in a place outside the normal universe didn't mean that he didn't notice when things inside the universe happened.

Or more specifically when those damn Winchesters and their pet seraph played with something they shouldn't even look at.

For instance , he had known when little Castiel had swallowed half of Purgatory. Even got a chuckle out of that. He wasn't laughing though when Castiel had used that same power to kill off the only archangel left on the board.

That was the first time in a very long time that he had prayed to his dear old Dad, asking for Raphael to rest in peace, even if he was sent to the Empty. Of the four archangels Raphael had wanted the responsibility of leading Heaven even less than Gabriel.

At least that was how Gabriel remembered him.

When the universe broke open and spit out Auntie Amara, Gabriel by then was beside himself wondering how those two chuckle heads could begin to fix what they had done. While her reach was far enough away for the moment, it didn't stop the former being from fretting. Being outside of time was nice on occasion but while you waited with bated breath to see if the universe was going to end completely sometimes it just sucked.

In the span of a breath or several months he blinked. And suddenly in front of him were two he thought he would never see again.

"Gabriel." God, wearing a middle aged bearded man, smiled at him.

"That's little Gabriel? He grew so much, but yet not. Is this normal?" Amara tilted her head to question her brother.

Gabriel growled, wishing he still had his wings to flex.

"His vessel's small. That's all. You just got too used to those Winchester's." God laughed.

Gabriel couldn't take it. Stepping up to his long absent Father, and thankful that both of their vessels were of similar height, Gabriel looked Him in the eye.

"Where the hell have you been Dad? Coulda used some help back during the Apocalypse you know. Maybe then Luci wouldn't've killed me." If he actually knew that he was pouting, Gabriel might not have continued it. Crossing his arms he glared at his Father. "Seriously Dad, what the fuck?"

Amara sucked in a breath, as though realizing something. "Ah. I see now why you chose him. He will fit right in."

"Chose me? What do you mean you-"

Amara raised her hand in Gabriel's direction.

Gabriel popped out of Helheim with a snap...

"-chose me?"

...and into a strange library where a Winchester sat.

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have the first 3 chaps of this written so they will all be posted at once. Depending on feedback I will post more this week.  
> Comments, and kudos  
> Gabi  
> <3<3<3

Taking his mug of tea, Sam Winchester made his way to the bunker's library, breathing a sigh of relief as he sipped at it. For once in the hunter's life there wasn't some world ending problem looming on the horizon. Things were actually looking up, and for someone as tall as he was it was an interesting perspective. Cas was back from the dead. Again. Mary was back in the bunker to stay. Lucifer was locked away in some alternate universe, and all the rest of the Great Big Bad's had essentially been taken out. Sure, there were still the occasional rogue dick-bag angels to worry about. Especially since all of Heaven thought of Jack as their saving grace. Thankfully the Nephilim had decided early on that the only angel he was going to trust would be Castiel, his 'father'.

And hadn't _that_ little tidbit thrown his 'oh-so-emotionally-mature' brother through the wringer.

Sam grinned remembering Dean's sputtering reaction to Jack's wide-eyed declaration. Maybe this would be the year that the elder Winchester finally got over his hang-ups and told their resident angel how he felt. But knowing Dean? Yeah, probably not.

Once more seated at his usual chair in the library, Sam opened up his laptop to see if there were any cases nearby to look into. It had been a couple of weeks since they had taken a case. Any case. They all were getting antsy to be on the road again. But the time off had been necessary. It had taken that long for them all to readjust to their expanded family.

It was still early yet, the sun barely up. He had had far too much energy coursing through him when he woke up suddenly at 3 AM. Unable to go back to sleep Sam had gone on his morning run, come back and showered, then proceeded to have breakfast. He could hear his mother moving around her room when he went to the kitchen. From behind Jack's door he had heard the muted sound of the television within. Sam grinned, amused at their holy roommates. Jack and Castiel had taken to watching Netflix while the Winchester's slept.

Dean, he was sure, was still snoring to the stratosphere behind his closed door.

Suffice it to say, Sam wasn't expecting the silence of the library to be broken anytime soon. So when it was interrupted by the very last person he ever thought to see again, it was nothing less than a _fucking shock_.

"-chose me?" sounded through the air a mere second before the former trickster materialized.

The hunter and the pagan gaped at each other, completely frozen and unsure if the other really was there in front of their eyes.

"Gabriel?" Sam's brow furrowed in confusion. Pushing back his chair, he stood hesitantly. If this wasn't the archangel, he needed to be ready at a moment's notice to fight.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't little Sammy Winchester. As I live and breathe." Gabriel patted his chest down comically, as though checking out his new old vessel. He laughed. "Quite literally it would seem."

Sam felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of his neck. His pulse was spiking as adrenaline kicked in. This wasn't happening. Not again. Instinctively, he dug his nails into the palm of his hands, blood droplets making a home under the nailbed. "You can't be here. You're dead."

"Was. Now?" he shrugged. "Now not so much."

But Sam wasn't listening to him anymore. He shook his head, trying to displace the impossible image standing in front of him. This was imaginary Lucifer all over again, just a different archangel bent on torturing him. His blood pumped faster as his anger rose. He never really could catch a break in his life. "No. You aren't here. You're not _real_."

Gabriel had to admit, he was confused. Sure he may have been an ass to the Winchester's in his previous incarnation but he would have thought that fucking dying to save them would have more than made up for that. "Hate to break it to you buck-o but I really am here. Live and in person."

And - _whoa_ \- full of grace. He hadn't felt that in a while. His wings twitched. The sasquatch was panicking, and for once Gabriel didn't know how he had caused it. He had always felt uncharacteristically drawn to the younger Winchester, he would never deny it. Now though, he was tempted to lay a comforting hand on his giant shoulders. The only thing stopping him was that Gabriel was sure that if he so much as moved an inch Sam would go straight into fight or flight mode.

And since he had no intention of getting pummeled to death so close to his resurrection, Gabriel stayed put.

"Sam?" Mary called out as she stepped into the library from the war room. Curious about the stranger standing so close to her youngest son, she asked, "Who's this?"

At his mother's words, Sam's breath caught. "Wait. You... you can see him?"

Mary nodded, growing increasingly concerned by the minute by Sam's behavior.

"I tried to tell you Sambino. I'm back, jack." Gabriel threw his arms wide before doing an exaggerated bow. Spinning to the -to him- unknown woman, he introduced himself. "Gabriel, Archangel and Messenger to the Big Guy. Also go by Loki. And who might you be, beautiful?"

Throwing a cautious look to her son before answering, she held out her hand. "Mary Winchester."

Gabriel took the proffered appendage, placing a kiss over her knuckles. With an utterly ridiculous brow wiggle, he smirked. "Well it is lovely to meet you Mary... Wait. Mary? You're supposed to be dead!" He gasped as realization hit him.

Sam watched the exchange with slight trepidation. Before when he imagined Lucifer, the Morningstar never interacted with anyone else directly. Sam studied the archangel with renewed interest. That meant that Gabriel was really there, alive once more. He sucked in a shuddering breath, and let it back out with a soft chuckle. "Hey, Kettle-head, you might want to check a mirror since we could say the same thing about you."

Gabriel was willing to concede the point. He nodded. "True. That is very true."

"How? How are you even here? _Why_ are you here?" Sam asked, relaxing now that the initial panic was fading. In an effort to hide what he had done to his palm, Sam crossed his arms and leaned back against the table.

Gabriel shrugged. "Dad finally got around to visiting me. Though seeing Auntie Amara was a bit of a shock. Care to explain that one, Sammy?"

"Uh, it's kind of a long story." Sam avoided meeting the archangel's whiskey eyes. It would probably take several weeks to fully fill the returned angel in on everything. Hell he didn't even know where to initially begin.

"Should I leave you two alone to talk?" Mary asked.

"No, Mom. You don't have to go. I mean, you've heard it all before..." Sam began.

Just then Dean came shuffling into the room, wearing his dead guy robe, feet covered in fuzzy slippers looking as though he had had a rough night. He carried a mug of coffee, clearly having stopped in the kitchen before bothering to locate the rest of his family in the bunker. He muttered a 'good morning' to all three standing there.

He paused, mug half way to his mouth.

There was Sam, amused bitchface already active. There was Mary, her expression unreadable as she watched her eldest slowly wake up. And then standing there next to Sammy, as though he was not just invited but right at home within the bunker was... _Gabriel?_

Dean's grip lost it's hold on the mug. It shattered on the wood floor, coffee splashing everywhere.

"What the..."


	3. Chapter Three

"... _fuck_?"

After listening to the Winchester's for the past few hours as they filled him in on all that had happened since his unfair demise, all Gabriel could think was a shocked, "No, seriously. What the fuck?"

After Dean had gotten over the shock of seeing the Trickster standing in his home, the hunter had disappeared for several minutes. While he was gone Mary had cleaned up the mess he had left, shaking her head. It may have been over 30 years since her boys were actual boys but they had yet to grow up it seemed.

Dean eventually had returned, showered, dressed and followed by a seraph and a young man in tow.

Castiel's wide eyed confusion was quickly followed by an unexpected hug given to the archangel. Gabriel squeaked as the taller man lifted him in the air. "Woah there. What's this? You know we don't come from a family of huggers." He may complain about it out loud but it didn't stop the trickster from feeling welcome within the fold. It had been so many millennia since he had been embraced by any of his family that frankly, he got a bit choked up.

Not that he would ever admit it.

And then he met Jack.

The Trickster and the Nephilim stared at each other. Finally Jack broke the awkward silence. "You are Gabriel?"

"Yep." Gabriel nodded once. This kid was powerful, even more so than him. Curiosity getting the better of him, he asked. "Who are you?"

"I am Jack."

Gabriel's eyes flicked over to Sam for an explanation. "Yeah, that doesn't tell me much kid."

"I am the son of the human Kelly Kline and Lucifer, the archangel. But Castiel is my father." Jack smiled widely as though this filled in everything. It's simplicity only raised more questions.

"Hold up. Back the fuck up." Gabriel's brow raised as Jack took a step back. "Luci has a kid? What the hell happened after he killed me?"

Then he was told everything, the story being passed from one Winchester to another, Dean doing most of the talking, with Castiel jumping in with the tale from the angel's perspective. Gabriel sat, dumbfounded at one of the tables. He ran a hand down his face. Looking to each of the hunters/angel/nephilim in turn, Gabriel finally spoke. "So basically what you're telling me is, you broke the world several times, found this hide-y hole, released my big Bro _again_ , and got Dad to come out of hiding for a big ol' family reunion? And now I have a new family member, who's the son of the asshole who killed me in the first place?"

Taking a deep breath at the nods around the table did nothing to calm his anger. "Well, you know what? Fuck you guys."

Snapping his fingers, the archangel disappeared.

*****

Jack's face fell as Gabriel ranted then vanished. He had been so excited to meet one of the few angels that Castiel had spoken of fondly. He wasn't exactly what he had imagined. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Dean.

"Don't let that dick get to you, kid. He has every right to be pissed at us. We have a lot of history. Don't take it too personal, yeah?" Jack looked up at him, then nodded. He liked it when Dean took the time to speak with the young nephilim. The hunter didn't do it often, but it meant everything when he did because it meant that it was something important. It wasn't like when Sam talked with him, though the young Winchester always made time for Jack.

At the thought of the tall man, Jack frowned. Sam had been unusually quiet during the most of the exchange with the archangel. He was currently staring a hole into the table top. Jack decided it was best to ask. "Sam? Is there something wrong?"

Broken out of his trance, the hunter looked up to find the rest of the room watching him. "I'm fine," he pushed back his chair, and cleared his throat. "I'm going to go for a food run. I'll be back later."

"Don't forget the pie!" Dean called out after him. Something was definitely up with his brother but he really didn't want to bother with it at the moment. Gabriel was back and didn't that just scream future problems? Turning to Jack he asked, "So, where did we leave off on your cultural education?"

Jack smiled, reminiscent of Castiel's wide grin. "I believe that _Lord of the Rings_ was up next on the list you wrote."

"Then _Lord of the Rings_ it is. Though Charlie might be mad that we watched it without her." Dean joked.

Jack's eyes widened in alarm. "Oh if she wanted to watch it, then we should wait for her."

"Relax, kid. I'm sure she would love to know that you've watched it. Then when she gets back you two can talk about..." Dean's voice trailed off as he and Jack walked out of the library.

Mary and Castiel shared a look. Crossing her arms in pure Winchester style, she turned to the seraph. "Is Gabriel going to be a problem?"

"I honestly don't know." Castiel sighed wishing that he had a better answer for his friend. "I think that he may need time though, whatever he chooses to do."

Mary understood. She too had needed to regroup when she had come back. Seeing the new world through old eyes, there was too much to take in and understand. She had needed to discover the world again at her own pace. But she had hurt her boys in the process. She only hoped that this Gabriel character didn't hurt her family as he was learning the world again.

Castiel had been lucky that he had only been gone for a few weeks before Jack had brought him back. He hadn't needed any adjustment period. He had just jumped right back in the fray. This Gabriel had been gone almost a decade and a lot of things had changed in that amount of time both on earth and in heaven. Castiel sent out a prayer to his brother, letting him know that he was there if he needed anything.

It was all he could do at this point.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, kudos and yada yada ya'll...  
> Gabi  
> <3<3<3

Sam wandered blindly through the grocery store, barely paying any attention to what he was throwing into the metal cart. It was easy to do since he got the same things every time he did the shopping instead of Dean. The process was done almost by rout now. The rusted wheel squeaked as he looped around the produce section of the Piggly Wiggly. Dean probably wouldn't be happy with all the green that was in the basket, but he would eat whatever or go do his own shopping. Sam couldn't bring himself to focus on anything more than what had happened earlier back at the bunker.

Gabriel was alive.

He just couldn't wrap his head around it. After so many years why on earth would Chuck bring the archangel back from the dead? It wasn't as though the younger Winchester was unfamiliar with unexpected resurrections, himself included. People coming back? Yes. Angels? He shook his head. Perhaps Sam had simply gotten too used to Castiel being the only angel brought back so quickly after death. Which was a sad commentary on his life that that was almost a normal statement. Though to be fair, this last time it had been Jack who had resurrected the angel, not God, he had to remind himself.

"Sam?" a soft female voice called him from his thoughts. It came from directly across the tomato display. His gaze focused up, and he smiled at the dark haired woman in front of him. How had he failed to notice her before?

"Eileen? Hey. What brings you back to Kansas?" He walked over to her side of the display, giving her a quick hug. It had been a while since that whole banshee situation. He had only brought himself around to texting her a handful of times afterwards. There had been too many distractions at the time to go any further with their friendship. With Castiel possessed by the devil himself, and Amara freed, then the British invading... Let's just say that it had been a rough couple of years.

Though he had taken some time to learn some ASL to better talk with his friend.

"Just finished up with a haunting a few towns over. I thought that I might stop by the bunker to say 'hello'." Her hands moved effortlessly in a smooth dance as she signed along with her words, going slowly enough for Sam to follow along. She smiled. "I thought that maybe we could catch up over dinner. Just the two of us."

Sam considered. It would be nice having someone to talk with, someone other than his family. Besides having dinner with a beautiful woman like Eileen wouldn't really be considered a hardship. He smiled. "You know what? That sounds great. I just have to get this stuff back to the bunker."

They made arrangements to meet back up at a local restaurant later. On the drive home Sam resigned himself to not think about Gabriel or his return any more. He had nothing to do with the archangel. There wasn't any reason he could see that Chuck had returned Gabriel the way he had, where he had. Perhaps it was only because the Winchester's were familiar. There wasn't anything more to it than that. He would be lucky if that was the last time that he ever saw Gabriel, with his stupid smirk, his snark, and his mischievous golden eyes.

He parked the Impala in front of the bunker and sighed. Yeah, keeping his thoughts away from the Trickster in question wasn't going as well as planned.

*****

Gabriel stared out over the vista below him. The mountaintop he picked would have seen to the casual observer to have been at random. It hadn't been. The humans climbing it had no idea that he sat there invisible. Why would they? He barely noticed they were climbing to be honest. He only knew they were there because he had almost landed on one when he flew to the location on instinct. This had once been one of his favorite spots to view his father's creation back at the beginning. To say that things had changed since then would be an understatement. But having to sit back and watch it evolve would be equivalent to watching paint dry for eternity.

He had had to keep himself busy. After he went into hiding he had to come up with something to distract him for the several millennia that he hid from his family. So he had tucked his wings away, and reinvented himself. Many times. Sometimes he helped but it was rare that he bothered. Gabriel could never fully quit serving justice to those who deserved it. He hadn't thought he had done too bad without his Father's guiding hand, but he had done what he could. Then he had been taken into the folds of a peculiar Norse family. Mingling with both pagan gods and humans gave him a broader perspective than he had initially planned or wanted. He certainly had a better understanding of humanity than most of his brethren, if he said so himself. Which he had, often.

Being forced to come out of hiding by a pair of simple hunters was never in his plan. Okay, so maybe they weren't really _simple_ by the normal terms. Sam and Dean Winchester, vessels for the eldest archangels. Practically the bringers of end times. The second he had met them on the campus during his Trickster days he had known an end was coming.

He hadn't expected it to be his own.

So now he sat there and contemplated all that he was before. Was that what he wanted to be still? A Trickster? A coward hiding from his family? Or was it time to yet again to become something else?

He was brought out of his reverie as the atmosphere shifted behind him. The nephilim, Jack, spoke after several minutes of hovering behind the Archangel.

"It is quite pretty here."

Gabriel chuckled. He definitely saw Castiel's influence in the kid. He patted the boulder next to him. "Pop a squat kid. How'd you find me anyway?"

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment, as though considering his answer. "I have been practicing locating more than just people. I can find Dean and Sam easily, even with their warding. I can find Castiel as well. I've helped in locating monsters when they allow me to join in on hunts. I've yet to try locating an Archangel, seeing as they all were presumed dead."

"You presumed right kid."

They went back to staring at the view for several more minutes in silence. Finally Gabriel couldn't take it. He had been gone too long and there were too many unanswered questions. He glanced at the nephilim beside him. "How old are you anyway? I know it's not the age you appear to humans."

"Six months, fourteen days, seventeen hours and..."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Archangel, remember? I was around when the first nephilim came around. I know how you operate." Gabriel chuckled, recalling how that particular little troublemaker did nothing but cause Michael headaches. In comparison to later ones, it had been quite innocent. In a way Jack reminded him of the first.

"Sam seemed upset by your return." Innocent he may appear, subtle he was not. "Why would he be upset? From what I've been told, without your help, they wouldn't have been able to stop the apocalypse."

"I guess some things just can't be forgiven by a Winchester." Gabriel shrugged. It hurt more than he wanted to admit, Sam's attitude towards his return. It wasn't unexpected though, after the endless Tuesday's and Nutcracker game show. _But that was years ago!_ he whined to himself.

Jack just nodded. "Perhaps, in order to get forgiveness from him, you have to earn it. Dean and Castiel seem to already be open to you being back. Maybe you should offer to help with a case?"

Gabriel considered the nephilim's words. Jack might not be wrong, but lowering himself to get a human to forgive him? In all his long existence, the archangel would have never dreamed of it. But he had been given a second chance with his resurrection. Perhaps this time around he should start doing this differently. Start doing things honestly.

And wouldn't that be a first?

Standing, Gabriel glanced down and arched a challenging brow to the nephilim. "Race you to the bunker."

Jack smiled and disappeared.

Gabriel chuckled and followed.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say that writer's block sucks???

Sam rolled over, spent and sweaty. The standing fan in the corner of the room doing it’s best to cool down the naked bodies on the bed. He turned his head to look at the woman beside him. There had been no expectation when he went out earlier that the two of them to fall into bed together tonight. The woman stretched, sated by their activities before rolling out of bed. Sam watched as she grabbed a hot pink robe to cover herself from his wandering gaze.

“You can show yourself out. You know, once you catch your breath.” She smirked over her shoulder, tying off the belt.

Sam chuckled, before reaching for his own clothes. His night with Eileen had been nothing more than dinner and catching up about the monsters they each had been pursuing recently. After a couple of hours they had parted ways. Eileen had needed to get back on the road for her next hunt, and he still needed something to occupy his time. He had had no idea whether or not the archangel had returned to the bunker but Sam wasn’t going to risk going back until the last possible moment.

Not until he had his own feelings…uh, thoughts worked through.

“So, what was your name again?” He should have felt bad about not knowing it, but they didn’t really take the time for introductions when they met at the bar. Going slowly, he slipped on his black boxer briefs knowing the woman was watching. Who was he to deny her the view?

He had gone down the road to one of Lebanon’s small bars that Dean was more likely to frequent. After an hour of hustling pool and drinking cheap beer, Sam turned his thoughts towards getting some much needed ‘stress relief’. It had been a while. Despite what Dean might have claimed over the years, Sam was able to catch the attention of an attractive bar fly, and not too long after that Sam found himself at her home, enjoying himself with her company and body. Just as she had enjoyed him. Sam looked over at her. She was somewhat tall, around 5’8”, blonde hair cut close to her shoulders and light brown eyes.

“Name’s Gabrielle.”

He blinked.

“Uh, right. So… uh, been fun. Gotta go.” Rushing, he almost zipped himself inside his pants in his haste to get out of her apartment. _Shitshitshitshit._ Of course he fucking slept with a woman who reminded him of the most annoying Trickster dickbag in existence.

Panicked adrenaline got him home to the bunker. He knew he was being ridiculous. Why should he worry about anything really, just because the archangel was back from the dead? He shouldn’t have to avoid his own home simply because the other _might_ be there. And sure the hook up was definitely a nice change of pace for him… Sam stopped himself. There, he couldn’t lie to himself. If he hadn’t been avoiding the bunker, and it’s occupants, it wouldn’t have happened.

It was late, almost nearing early. Everyone was bound to still be asleep. Opening the bunker’s front door, he winced at how loud it echoed. There was no way that everyone inside hadn’t heard that. Not that it would have mattered much, he realized as he stepped onto the landing. Dean, Jack, Cas and Gabriel were all standing around the table in the war room, fully awake and looking to take on the world. Dean though was tiredly checking over his weapons while Cas stood at his side, holding random items when Dean needed an extra hand. Jack and Gabriel were talking in low voices across the table, stopping when it was apparent that Sam was back.

“Sammy! You’re finally back. Where you been man? We need a tie breaker.” Dean called up to him.

The taller Winchester trotted down the steps. “Tie breaker?”

“Yes. There are two cases that we found that both need to be taken care of. We are unsure of which one to prioritize.” Jack answered for them. The ever present innocent slash serious expression crossed the boys face as he lifted two pages in turn. “This one is what appears to be a nest of vampires. They have been attacking the locals at random. While this one is a haunting at a renovated ‘Bed and Breakfast’. There has only been one causality there however.”

His use of air quotes made the men in the room smile.

Sam cleared his throat. “Well, there is enough of us. We could always split up and hit both.”

Jack perked up, excitedly. “Oh! That is a good idea. I call ‘dibs’ then on Gabriel and Sam. I’ve yet to take out a nest of vampires. We could take that one.”

Sam was stunned silent. Normally he wouldn’t hesitate to go with Jack on a hunt. The kid was like a nephew to him, smart and always eager to learn. But having Gabriel tag along was bound to put him off his game. Glancing sideways at the uncharacteristically stoic archangel, Sam frowned. Gabriel was watching him, like he was allowing Sam to make the decision. Turning to face the smaller man, Sam questioned. “So what? You’re helping us out now?”

Gabriel shrugged. “Might as well. It’s not like it wouldn’t hurt for you to have the big guns around to help out. Gives me a chance to get to know the scamp here.” Reaching out he ruffled Jack’s blond hair. Jack didn’t bother slapping the hand away, allowing it with a huge smile.

There it was, the reason Sam immediately felt like a complete ass. Of course Jack wanted to get to know his uncle, who until recently had been dead. Sam could push his own feelings about the former Trickster to the side as they dealt with the hunt. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had to do that before where Gabe was concerned.

The blond archangel made a noise, barely noticeable. Sam met his honey gaze, realizing that he had heard his thoughts. Turning from everyone he headed to his room, with a mumbled, “We’ll head out in the morning. I’ve got to get some sleep first.”

As he walked down the hallway he could hear his brother ask the room. “What’s with him?”

Jack answered with his usual non-filter. “It seems like Sam was just worn out from the sex he recently had.”

Sam flinched as he heard their responses. Dean with his usual ‘ _eww’_ , Cas with a spoken ‘ _that makes sense.’_ But from the archangel there was nothing. Sam assumed that he had already left, planning on meeting up with them in the morning.

*****

Gabriel hadn’t left, despite what the Sasquatch thought. His brain was stuck wondering what exactly Sam had meant. His _feelings?_ What feelings would the moose have other than mild annoyance at the pagan from all the tricks he had played on the Winchesters over the years? And why did it bother Gabriel so much if that was all that Sam thought of him?

His thoughts screeched to a halt a few minutes later at his nephew’s observation however. Of course Sam had just had sex. How had he not fully noticed it when the giant had stepped into the bunker? It was fairly obvious. The man’s neck had been marked beyond belief, hair mussed… That alone should have been a big indicator. The Sam he knew wouldn’t let his glorious mane get that messy otherwise.

Mask falling into place, he said to Jack that he would be back in the morning to snap them the hunt. Perhaps by then he would be able to pretend he hadn’t been shaken by a mere mortal.

_Since when is Sam Winchester a mere mortal?_ Chuck’s voice filtered through his grace.

_Shut up, Dad._ Gabriel snapped his fingers, leaving the bunker for the moment.


End file.
